Ian Fleming's Live and Let Die first edition shows up at bookstore

The staff at a bookstore in Scotland got quite a surprise earlier this week when they discovered a first edition hardback copy of Ian Fleming’s Live and Let Die in a charity bin bag.

Ian Fleming

As reported at Deadline Scotland, the James Bond novel was spotted alongside several other books in a bag of donations to the store.

Tracking down a first edition Jonathan Cape copy of Live and Let Die is no easy (or cheap) task, considering the book is more than 50 years old and the first print run consisted of only 7,500 copies. It is Fleming’s second 007 novel following 1953’s Casino Royale.

Bookshop manager Andy Crosby said: ‘007 seems to bring a bit of luck to our shop. We don’t know who donated the book but I would like to thank them very much for their extremely generous donation.’

The shop plans to auction off the Bond novel at Bonhams in Oxford next week, with an estimated price set at £800.

This is the second first edition copy of a Fleming novel to turn up at the shop recently after a copy of From Russia With Love, worth £300, turned up last year.

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for the most up-to-date literary James Bond coverage on the web.

More Ian Fleming 007 paperbacks added on Amazon.co.uk

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

As CommanderBond.net readers are likely well aware, this year has seen the 2008 centenary editions of Ian Fleming’s James Bond adventures arrive in paperback format. The titles have sporadically been added to online bookseller Amazon.co.uk at various intervals and now an additional set of them have been announced.

Fleming’s Thunderball and On Her Majesty’s Secret Service have been added on the site with release dates set at 7 January 2010 (although the Fleming centenary paperbacks frequently ship earlier than such posted dates).

The original hardback editions were published under the Penguin 007 imprint with striking new cover designs by artist Michael Gillette. These editions were quickly coveted by fans and went out of print after just a few months following their May 2008 release.

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for the most up-to-date literary James Bond coverage on the web.

Additional Ian Fleming James Bond paperbacks on Amazon.co.uk

Octopussy and The Living Daylights cover

A few new listings have appeared on Amazon.co.uk for the 2009 centenary paperback printings of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels.

Originally published in hardback under the Penguin 007 imprint with striking new cover designs by artist Michael Gillette, these editions were quickly coveted by fans and went out of print after just a few months following their May 2008 release.

In addition to the 007 titles already available on online book sites such as Amazon, literary Bond fans can now also pre-order Casino Royale, Doctor No and Octopussy and The Living Daylights, all set for release on 1 October 2009.

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for the most up-to-date literary James Bond coverage on the web.

Ian Fleming died this day in 1964 after a heart attack

45 years ago today, Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, died of a heart attack at the age of 56.

As nearly all 007 fans are aware, Fleming’s legacy lives on today around the world through the films, books, fan events and lifestyles one attributes to ‘Bond, James Bond’.

The Guardian newspaper has dug into their archives and reprinted the 13 August 1964 report which marked the news and also bid farewell to secret agent 007…

Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming, the author and creator of James Bond, died in the Kent and Canterbury Hospital early yesterday following a heart attack. He was 56.

Leader: 007 – man or brute?

In his time, Bond was attacked by giant squid, hauled naked across razor-edged coral rocks and almost pulled apart by a rack-like apparatus. Always he survived to tell the tale; and returned, appetite undiminished, to his cars, his meals, and his girls. Yet even Bond, one imagines, can hardly survive his creator: 007 has bitten the dust at last.

But before he finally disappears he deserves at least a farewell glance. Bond was a symbol of the times. He appealed unashamedly to two powerful instincts: snobbery, and the latent sadomasochism which is present beneath the surface of all civilisations. Charged with this, his creator gave two replies. Bond’s snob-appeal he claimed as unintentional. In his first book he had given Bond a good meal—and what was wrong with that?—and the readers had clamoured for more. As for the sex, Bond was just a great, big, virile he-man whose healthy masculinity upset his critics because they lacked it themselves. These answers were, and are, unconvincing. Bond never fussed about the old school tie; and he would not have won millions of readers if he had…[continue reading]

The Guardian

Fleming was buried in the churchyard of the small Sevenhampton village, located in Wiltshire.

Read on for related CommanderBond.net articles centering on Ian Fleming and James Bond…

• James Bond Turns Up In The Strangest Of Places / Commemorating the centenary of Ian Fleming
• An Appreciation of Ian Fleming / Duncan Elliott examines the life of the author and the impact of his creation
• CommanderBond.net: Ian Fleming’s James Bond (1953 – 1966)

Keep your browsers locked on the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest James Bond-related news.

James Bond is pure gold for MI6 recruitment

James Bond has been ‘pure gold’ in helping to recruit MI6 agents abroad, the former head of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) has said.

Ian Fleming

The Telegraph reports that Ian Fleming’s incredibly popular creation has also been good for morale in the service, according to Sir Colin McColl, who ran MI6 from 1989 to 1994.

Speaking with the BBC, he also praised fellow author John le Carré, whose spy works have also proven to valuable, because they made the public think about the job.

‘It’s absolute gold,’ he said. ‘It spreads the name, the brand, but also the feeling that you’re good, that you know a lot.’

When asked if he thought James Bond in particular had been useful to the SIS, he said: ‘Oh absolutely. It keeps the name going. Everybody watches Bond, so why shouldn’t a little bit of Bond rub off on our reputation?’ However, he was quick to point out that the exploits of 007 weren’t exactly in line with the real-life job description. ‘We’re not in the business of going out and shooting people in dark alleys,’ he said.

Speaking about le Carré’s work, such as 1974’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, he said: ‘There were two feelings in the service over the years. There were those who were furious with John le Carré because he depicts everybody as disagreeable characters, always plotting against each other. But actually, I thought it was terrific because it gave us another couple of generations of being in some way special.’

Keep your browsers locked on the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for all the latest James Bond-related news.

Quantum of Solace hardcover shortlisted for British Book Design and Production Award

IanFleming.com reports that last year’s hardcover release of Quantum of Solace: The Complete James Bond Short Stories has been nominated in the Best Jacket/Cover Design category at the 2009 British Book Design and Production Awards.

Quantum of Solace brought together all nine of Ian Fleming’s Bond short stories to coincide with the release of the film of the same name.

The book was designed by Angus Hyland and Fabian Herrmann of Pentagram; its cloth-covered boards feature a silver embossed image of 007’s weapon of choice, the Walther PPK. The book is encased in a manilla cardboard wraparound, featuring the details of Bond’s missions within.

The British Book Design and Production Awards will be held on 29 October 2009 at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel. For more information, visit the British Book Design and Production Awards website, where the full shortlist will be available to view on Monday.

Keep watching CommanderBond.net for the latest literary James Bond news.

Rare Ian Fleming James Bond books at Scotland's Ballater Book Fair

Several rare Ian Fleming James Bond titles will be on display later this month at the Ballater Book Fair in Scotland.

Ian Fleming

According to the Deeside Piper, Fleming’s The Spy Who Loved Me, You Only Live Twice and The Man with the Golden Gun are just a few of the 007 novels that will be featured at the event.

Additionally, a copy of the elusive Casino Royale will also be present, although this particular copy is missing the dustjacket.

These James Bond novels are just a small selection of the wide variety of out of print, antiquarian and collectable books that will be for sale at this year’s fair along with a good selection of maps and prints.

The Ballater Book Fair is scheduled to take place on Sunday, 9 August from 10:00am through 5:00pm at Victoria Hall, Station Square. Admission is £1.

For additional details, contact Bryn Wayte, Deeside Books, Ballater; at 01339 754080 or [email protected].

Keep your browsers pointed to the CommanderBond.net main page—Twitter feed—for all the latest news from the world of 007.

Limited edition James Bond illustrations by Barnett Plotkin

A selection of limited edition James Bond giclee prints created by Barnett Plotkin are available to order at www.jamesbondillustrations.com.

Originally created between 1979 and 1981, these 007 illustrations graced the covers of the US Jove paperback editions of the following Ian Fleming novels:

• Casino Royale
• Live and Let Die
• Moonraker
• Diamonds are Forever
• From Russia with Love
• Doctor No
• Goldfinger
• For Your Eyes Only

Barnett Plotkin’s designs included on the 2008 Ian Fleming centenary stamp cards

These illustrations were then reintroduced into the world of James Bond last year when they were reproduced as stamps (along with several other popular styles of 007 covers) by The Royal Mail of England and Wales in Honor of Fleming’s centenary.

Born and raised in Valley Stream, New York, Barnett Plotkin went on to study at Pratt Institute in New York City, graduating in 1952 with a major in illustration and two years post-graduate study in figure painting. He has worked in the field of commercial illustration for the past 50 years; this has included medical illustration.

Experimentation with varied media and styles has often inspired some of his most eclectic and satisfying work, without the constrictions associated with the commericail field. Among his many clients have been Wrangler Jeans, Citibank, Prudential, IBM, Swingline, Hunts Foods, US Steel, P. Lorillard, Medical Economics, The Franklin Library, and Bantam, Jove, Fawcett., Harlequin and NAL paperbacks.

Barnett Plotkin is a life member of the Society of Illustrators and the 1984 past chairman of their internationally-acclaimed Annual Show. His work was included in “The Art and Culture of the American Labor Movement,” which opened in 1983 in the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Berlin, and traveled throughout the major capitals of Western Europe for several years. The artwork was originally inspired for a division of Wrangler Jeans and was most recently seen in a group show at the Smithtown Arts Council, Smithtown, New York and at a retrospective at the Society of Illustrators, New York City. It was described by the NY Times as “the embodiment of power without the need for words.” Newsday wrote, “appealing in its very overtness.” Many of his portraits, landscapes, and drawings are in private collections.

In 1997, Barnett Plotkin was honored by Nassau County, New York along with William Baldwin and Susan Isaacs as their favorite artists, actors and writers of the year.

He has been a member of the US Air Force Art Program since 1968, and his work has been exhibited at the Society of Illustrators in New York, The Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., The Pentagon, Andrews Air Force Base, and Dayton Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base.

In September 1999, The Society of Illustrators elected him Chairman of Government Services, with the Air Force Art Program being the major contributor.

Plotkin’s illustrations for Casino Royale, From Russia with Love, Doctor No, Goldfinger and For Your Eyes Only are available to order as 20″ x 30″ unframed prints. Each is a limited edition of 250 and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. Cost is $395.00 per print (plus shipping and handling).

• Order the limited edition James Bond prints by Barnett Plotkin at www.jamesbondillustrations.com

Keep your eyes on the CommanderBond.net main page for all the latest literary 007 coverage.

More James Bond centenary paperbacks available

From Russia with Love cover

In early June, CommanderBond.net first reported that several of last year’s centenary editions of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels were making their way to paperback format.

Originally published in hardback under the Penguin 007 imprint with striking new cover designs by artist Michael Gillette, these editions were quickly coveted by fans and went out of print after just a few months in mid-2008.

In addition to the five already available titles showing up on online book sites such as Amazon.co.uk, literary 007 fans can now also order Live and Let Die and You Only Live Twice.

Keep watching the CommanderBond.net main page—and our brand new Twitter feed—for the most up-to-date literary James Bond coverage on the web.

The History of 30 Assault Unit: Ian Fleming's Red Indians pushed to December

A new release date of 20 December 2009 has been announced for the upcoming book by Craig Cabell, The History of 30 Assault Unit: Ian Fleming’s Red Indians.

The History of 30 Assault Unit: Ian Fleming’s Red Indians

As earlier reported by CommanderBond.net, this latest book by Cabell is expected to take an indepth look at James Bond creator Ian Fleming and his role with the 30AU (30 Assault Unit)—a unit he set up during World War II in 1942.

The book follows the release of last year’s Ian Fleming’s Secret War (also by Cabell), which focused on the activities of Fleming and his role with the 30AU—a unit he set up during World War II in 1942, while he served as the personal assistant to the director of naval intelligence. It’s goal was to undertake top secret intelligence-gathering missions, going in before Allied troops to make sure vital information was not destroyed.

Cabell has said that the unit ultimately served as inspiration for the creation of the 007 character.

The History of 30 Assault Unit: Ian Fleming’s Red Indians will be published in hardback by Pen & Sword Military. Retailing for £19.99, it can currently be pre-ordered online:

• Order The History of 30 Assault Unit: Ian Fleming’s Red Indians from Amazon.co.uk

For up-to-the-minute literary James Bond coverage, always turn your browsers to the CommanderBond.net main page. Be sure to check out our new Twitter feed as well.